Julien won't put up with 'sense of entitlement'

Thursday

Oct 3, 2013 at 12:43 PM

BOSTON - While the conventional wisdom among fans and the media is that Matt Bartkowski, Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton are competing with each other for two of the six defense slots in the Boston Bruins lineup, coach Claude Julien warned before the

Mark Divver Assistant Sports Editor markdivver

BOSTON - While the conventional wisdom among fans and the media is that Matt Bartkowski, Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton are competing with each other for two of the six defense slots in the Boston Bruins lineup, coach Claude Julien warned before the season opener on Thursday that some of the other defensemen had best be on their toes, too.

"It's not those three competing for two jobs. I think there's other guys who have to make sure they play well also to stay in the lineup, and you'll probably see that,'' said Julien, who is in his seventh season behind the Boston bench.

"Sense of entitlement I don't want on our hockey club, and I've been extremely clear with that. So if there's times where we got some veterans back there that aren't playing to their abilities and it's lasting a little longer than we like, then it may be other people sitting out.''

A lot of factors come into play from game to game in deciding which one of Boston's seven defensemen will sit out, he said.

"We spend a lot of time discussing that with the coaches; we sit down, we talk about it, talk to Peter [Chiarelli] about it and make sure that we're all seeing the same thing or we're all basically, by the end of the discussion, we all agree on the decision but there's a lot of things that come into play when it comes to that.

"It's an 82-game season so I don't think there should be anybody discouraged at this point. What we should be encouraged on is that we have really seven defensemen that I feel extremely comfortable with,'' Julien said.

Krug, who won a regular spot in the lineup during the playoffs last spring, is taking nothing for granted.

"I have to make sure I'm not getting comfortable. I have to earn a spot every single day I come to the rink. There's guys pushing to get in the lineup that can play the game at a high level. So, for me, every day I've got to prove myself,'' Krug said after the morning skate on Thursday.

Krug, who still is classified as a rookie even though he played 15 postseason games, will follow the lead of the Bruins' veterans.

"I expect to lean on all the older guys. You see the way that guys prepare, obviously you watch Bergy (Patrice Bergeron) and Zee (Zdeno Chara). I'm going to have to lean on those older guys to understand how to take care of myself for an 82-game season.

"I went through it down in Providence, but it's a different schedule (in the AHL). You're not playing every other day. What you're doing is playing three games on the weekend, so there's a different dynamic that you have to be cautious of. There's going to be some learning curves this year, for sure,'' Krug said.